Windows 10 Build 10041 - Maybe not for some older machines

Overall Windows 10 build 10041 is a pretty fair build and I believe is pretty close to being what MS used to term "feature complete" in previous Windows editions.   

 While there are still certain aspects of Windows 10 that I am not a fan of - I don't think there is going to be much change in the core experience.

 With the exception of the Spartan browser - I believe all of the pieces parts that make up Windows 10 are included in the 10041 build and what ships come this September is going to be pretty close to the experience current provided by the 10041 build.  

 But not all is copacetic when it comes to installation on some devices.  This last weekend I decided to update my daughters HP Pavilion DV6t laptop to 10041.   This is a Core I3 based laptop with 6Gb of RAM and an Intel 525 SSD.  

 The results were pretty bad both from an update of Windows 8.1 standpoint and from a clean install standpoint booting from DVD.  While both installation methods completed successfully, the resulting desktop experience was pretty awful.   Many apps did not work correctly that had been working fine on other desktops and tablets I have and in the end I had to revert to a clean 8.1 build.  

 At first I thought some of this may be due to some UEFI issues that MS posted on the Windows Blog regarding 10041 - but those issues were actually preventing Windows 10 from installing period.  And this was not the case....

 I think this is potentially much more about how some older PCs may react to Windows 10.  While on paper an Intel Core I3 based laptop with 6Gb of RAM, Intel HD Graphics, and Intel WiFi is well within the MS minimums for Windows 10.  This particular device itself is only about 4 years old - it runs Windows 8.1 fine so I didn't expect issues.  But I had them... Only 1 device - a disk protection sensor for drops didn't load - but that shouldn't have mattered.   

 To be honest this is surprising to me.   Over the years I have always been able to install at least 1 often 2 or more versions of Windows newer than what the machine was originally designed for.   Especially since more and more of the core components of system became Intel based and not 3rd party.   

 And like I said it's not as though Windows 10 didn't install - it did, but after login, it ran horribly with apps locking up, crashing, etc.  I went through all of the recommended work-arounds and I even re-downloaded the ISO from MS and tried again, but same result.   

 So obviously this is still pre-release code and so I can't be too critical - I am going to try again with the next build release - but heads up folks who are thinking about dipping their toes in the Windows 10 pre-release waters.

 Make sure you have bootable recovery media for your previous Windows build, license key info, etc and a good data backup - just in case you need to revert back after trying a Windows 10 build...

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